Before, during and after a cyclone: what one family does

Read the signals The Met Office uses signals 1 to 11. Up to 4 is caution. 5, 6 and 7 mean danger: finish preparing. 8, 9 and 10 are great danger: people on the coast go to the shelter, now. Hear the signal on radio, TV or by calling 1090.

Before the season - Everyone in the family knows the nearest shelter and the way there. Walk it once. - Keep a bag packed: dry food, water, medicines, a torch, a phone charger, photocopies of papers in a plastic bag. - Decide in advance who takes the elders, the pregnant, the children and the disabled. - Know the high ground or the killa for the animals.

At signal 8 or above - Go to the shelter while it is still daylight. Nobody finds the path at night. - Tie the doors and windows, switch off the mains and the gas. - Stay off the riverbank and the shore, whatever the reason.

After the storm - Keep away from fallen wires, broken trees and rising water. - Boil tube-well water; if flood water got in, test it first. - Anyone hurt or missing: call 999, and post a Need on this site so your area's leaders see it.

Send this page to your family WhatsApp group today, not the day before the storm.